Imelda Marcos urges Gaddafi to step down to avoid more violence

Feb 28, 2011, 5:55 GMT

Manila - Former Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos on Monday urged Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi to step down to avoid more violence as opponents took control of more cities at the weekend.

Marcos, now a member of the House of Representatives, said she hoped Gaddafi would follow the example of her late husband, Ferdinand Marcos, who fled into exile to the United States after a four-day, bloodless 'People Power' revolt in February 1986.

'I hope he would be like Marcos, no bloodshed,' said the 81-year-old, who met with Gaddafi in 1976 and persuaded him to help resolve the Muslim insurgency in the southern Philippines.

Unlike Gaddafi, former dictator Ferdinand Marcos did not order any attacks on hundreds of thousands of Filipinos who took to the streets to oust him 25 years ago.

Nearly 1,500 Filipinos have fled Libya amid escalating violence that has seen government forces attack protesters seeking Gaddafi's resignation, according to the Philippine Department of Labour and Employment.

About 550 more Filipinos were travelling to Tunisia with Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario and Foreign Undersecretary Esteban Conejos, who fetched them from Tripoli.

'The Filipinos will travel in a convoy of 55 vans and buses toward the Tunisian border,' the Department of Foreign Affairs said.

An estimated 31,000 Filipinos are in Libya, and authorities said at least 13,000 needed to be evacuated amid the escalating violence that has left hundreds and possibly thousands of protesters dead.

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